Derek McInnes preparing for 35-year title first as Hearts boss reveals his Celtic presumption

Hearts could be crowned league champions as early as Wednesday night if they beat John McGlynn’s visitors and Celtic lose at Motherwell. McInnes’ team lead the Parkhead side by one point and they face each other on Saturday in Glasgow in a potentially season defining finale.

McInnes believes the title will be won and lost on that afternoon, which could be the first time since 1991 that two teams have effectively played off against each other to win the Scottish top flight. Rangers beat Aberdeen on that afternoon at Ibrox to retain the title.

McInnes said he “had no plans to” when asked whether he would be keeping abreast of the developing situation at Fir Park, where fourth placed Motherwell are hosting Celtic. Whether he wants to know or not, it will be hard to miss hearing about a goal for Motherwell. Home fans will be alert to the unfolding situation 35 or so miles away.

“Personally, I am presuming Celtic are going to win the game,” said McInnes. “I am prepared to go to the last game. My only focus is Falkirk to be honest. I won’t be thinking anything else. If it does materialise then great of course. But I am not thinking that way at the minute.”

He referred to the Falkirk fixture as the “final before the final” rather than the semi-final before the final, which is how someone had described it to him earlier this week.

The manager has had to deal with significant fallout from Saturday night’s 1-1 draw with Motherwell. In addition to the disappointment of dropping two points, McInnes watched two vital players suffer serious injuries. Marc Leonard was helped off and Craig Halkett was carried off after both suffered ruptured Achilles tendons. They were operated on one after the other by the same surgeon in London on Monday.

“It’s tragic news, really disappointing,” he said. “It’s bizarre really to pick up two in the one game. It’s unheard of.

“Craig has torn his calf as well as his Achilles, so it’s quite a significant injury. I thought it might have just been his calf when I saw it happen but unfortunately for him and for us, both he and Marc are no longer available.” He revealed that both players will be sidelined for between seven and nine months, with Leonard already back at Birmingham City, his parent club. The on loan midfielder has been a standout while Cammy Devlin recovered from injury.

“You don’t need any extra motivation but it is certainly something we’ve spoken about,” said McInnes, when asked if securing the championship for these two stricken players was part of the thought process.

“It’s two lads who have served us brilliantly all season, Craig all season having been a real rock for us,” he said. "Marc came in when we needed him most, delivering some real big performances and kept us ticking over in there while we had Cammy’s injury and with Beni (Baningime) being out for a few games too, so he’s been vitally important to us.

“Both lads have been very influential on what is a team at the top of the league. It’s important that we finish the job off.”

McInnes revealed that he spoke to the Scottish Football Association’s head of referees Willie Collum on Monday. Referee Steven McLean controversially decided not to award Hearts a penalty in the second half at Motherwell despite being called to the monitor by VAR Greg Aitken after Alexandros Kyziridis was clipped in the box by Tawanda Maswanhise.

“VAR did its job brilliantly, but unfortunately the referee didn’t,” McInnes said. “But we’ve moved on from that. I spoke to Willie yesterday, I got that off my chest. He was in agreement and I was satisfied from that point of view.”

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